SLOANE'S 4TH BIRTHDAY

Howdy all, I'm coming at you from a week where I am being dragged by the feet from day to day because apparently the days keep marching on, even if my body says no-no-no. It's very much -can I please catch my breath, what is this fat cold sore on the side of my tongue, and will I or won't I get myself to the gym - kind of situation over here.

Its only been a few days and I already feel nostalgic about this past weekend of being enveloped in Sloane's joy about her birthday. She turned FOUR last week and we were both so excited about it; it was one of our main topics of discussion in the weeks leading up to the party.  My favorite part of it all was planning together, she being old enough now to have considerations about who she would like to invite and the kind of cake she prefers. 

Is there some sort of jar that will forever hold the image of her face talking about her beloved friends coming to her party, the big grin when she saw the ice cream toppings, or the little happy dance she did about the prospect of receiving birthday cards, and the yelp of excitement that came out when she saw Ken's mom had come up for the party? Those are the little treasures I'm taking away from it all.

So all that to say, I'm interrupting the normal programming (that being the series about our NYC trip - that's right, I'm still not done) to post about Sloane's 4th birthday party!  

Excuse me, humor me, because there are a gazillion photos here!

She loved receiving cards this year. There were some really special ones - ones with stickers, a paper wand, tinkerbell, princesses and little cut outs, a coloring one, hand crafted and hand made ones - she loved them all. 

As soon as the guests started coming in, we handed each a bowl of ice cream and directed them to the table with ice cream toppings so they could go to town. 

First order of business after ice cream: water balloon fight! Kids vs. grown ups. Sloane was tickled pink about this concept.

Then red light, green light, yellow light, purple light! 

And then inevitably, happily, the pool! 

The kind of cake she wanted was a topic of great deliberation. She finally decided upon a cake made out of fruit and I had come up with a basic blue print of how I would make that happen, but then the week of the party, she came up with the even bigger dream of a shark cake made out of fruit! With the help of a few google searches, planning, and some grit, I present to you...sharkie! The fruit cake shark. With candles in its teeth and everything.

Look at that face when everyone was singing happy birthday to her!! I wish I had gotten that on video.

Sloane, you are the most amazing thing I have ever accomplished and my favorite person to get to know right now. I miss you when you go to sleep and I am so excited to see you again in the morning. I am so proud of you and so proud to be your mom!